Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 is a game where Mario has to save Princess Peach from Bowser by collecting Stars to unlock worlds. It was released for Nintendo 64. It has been remade as a game for the Nintendo DS called Super Mario 64 DS. Contrary to popular belief, this game was technically not the debut of Charles Martinet as Mario's voice (It actually debuted in Mario's FUNdamentals), it was the first time most people heard it, and is thus regarded as its effective debut. Storyline Princess Toadstool sent a letter to Mario to come and have some cake with her in the castle. When he arrives, he finds one of the Lakitu Bros. who follows him around dangling a camera. Together, they go inside and hear a familiar voice telling them to get out of the castle. Toad informs them that Bowser has kidnapped the princess again and is holding everyone hostage inside the castle walls. He has also stolen the Power Stars and given them to his minions who are hiding in paintings. Mario hops in the magical paintings and retrieves the Power Stars in order to defeat Bowser and save the Princess. After a long journey, Mario counts his stars and discovers he has enough of them to go into Bowsers final maze, and goes through another one of the Koopa King's obstacle courses. Once getting through, Mario finds Bowser waiting for him. The two engage in battle. Bowser ends up defeated, and is surprised when Mario tells him there were some power stars he missed. Bowser gives up, and hands Mario the final Giant Power Star before he explodes. When Mario grabs the last power star, wings appear on his cap, allowing him to fly. He circles the star-shaped arena, and flies away. Eventually, he lands in front of the castle. As his wings fade away, Mario uses the power of the Giant Power Star, to make Princess Peach appear in front of the castle. The star went into the painting, the painting flashes, and Peach slowly descends to the ground. Mario rushes up to her as she wakes up. Thanking him, Peach kisses Mario and says she will make a cake for him. Peach and two nearby Toads walk into the castle. Mario starts to do so himself, but then pauses and turns around to look at the sky, and watch the birds flying. Peach calls his name and Mario runs in after her and the Toads. After the credits scroll, the cake, with Peach and Mario figures, is shown at the very end. Gameplay Super Mario 64 is the first Mario-game to be rendered in 3D, making it possible for the player to wander around freely in the world in all directions, including upwards. This is also the first Mario-game to make use of the analog steering developed for the Nintendo 64 which allows the player to move Mario forward in different speeds depending on the amount of force used to push the joystick forward. A small amount of force makes Mario move slower than a greater amount of force would. Thanks to this technology, Mario is now able to sneak past sleeping enemies to avoid detection. Crawling is another new feature to the series introduced in this game, as well as the groundpound that makes Mario able to press down big switches and pillars of different types. The groundpound is also useful for discarding enemies of different types. Other new features includes the use of caps, different headgear, in the game. Levels All levels in the game are locked from the beginning of the game, except for the first level, the Bob-omb Battlefield. In order to get to the different rooms which contain the paintings that Mario needs to enter to get to another level, he needs to collect stars from the levels he has already unlocked. All levels concist of 6 parts, axcessible in chronological order, although it is possible to acquire a star the you are not officialy playing the course to get. *Bob-omb Battlefield is the first world, or level, that Mario is able to enter. Here he will face the evil Big Bob-omb, have his first encounter with the Goomba's and learn to navigate skateboarding on the shell of a Koopa Troopa. *Whomp's Fortress is the second level of the game. Once Mario has collected at least one star from the previous level, he is able to enter Whomp's Fortress. Hig towers, smashing enemies and some great falls await. *Jolly Roger Bay The third level of the game. Underwater adventures and slimey Eels ahead. *Cool, Cool, Mountain The fourth level, and it's filled with snow, steep cliffsides and a lot of sliding. Oh, and penguines. Lots and lots of penguines. *Big Boo's Haunt The fifth level is a scary place. Filled with ghosts and spinning eyeballs. Don't turn your back to them. *Hazy Maze Cave is the sixth level, and the first one that is actually a little tricky to navigate. Spiders and seamonsters are both a pest and some help. *Lethal Lava Land *Shifting Sand Land *Dire, Dire Docks An area you have to get the first star from before accessing Bowser in the Fire Sea. *Wet-Dry World *Snowman's Land *Tall, Tall Mountain *Tiny-Huge Island An area wher Mario is either small or huge, although being tiny gives you more access and more coins, along with most of the stars. *Tick Tock Clock *Rainbow Ride Secret Levels Secret Castle Stars *The Princess' Secret Slide - This slip-slide'n stage lets you chase several 1up's and at the end collect a secret star *The Secret Aquarium is a giant fish-tank in which you need to collect 8 red coins to make another secret star appear. *Wing Mario Over the Rainbow is a stage in the sky where you need to shoot Mario out of a cannon, dressed in the Wing cap to collect 8 red coins to make yet another secret star appear. There are also several more or less hidden stages which give you the different special caps upon completion. *Tower of the Wing Cap is reachable after you have collected 10 stars from other levels in the game, and the Wing Cap is the first of the powered up caps you are able to get hold of. Soar through the sky and collect the red coins for a star. The winged cap does pretty much what the name suggests. It gives Mario the ability to temporarily soar through the sky after gaining enough momentum through being shot out of a cannon, or by doing the triple-jump prefferably from a high place such as a cliff och a tower. *Vanish Cap Under the Moat is located under the moat of the castle, reachable only after you have drained the moat of water. Once there, grab the Vanish Cap, slide down the slope and head for the exit collecting coins along the way. The secret switch and a secret star awaits you at the end of the course that is filled with see-saw's, firespitting enemies and some elevators. The Vanish cap gives Mario the ability to become invisible to enemies for a short period of time, as well as it let's him walk through certain walls. *Cavern of the Metal Cap is located in the sixth level of the game, the Hazy Maze Cave. Take a ride on the Seamonster in the lake, make way through the opposite door from where you came, and head through the cavern avoiding enemies as you go. More red coins, and the block to free the Metal Cap is here waiting. The Metal cap makes Mario invulnerable for a short period of time, as well as granting him the great help of being able to walk on the bottom of the sea, and hold his own against powerful currents and whirpools under water. Bowser Levels *Bowser in the Dark World - the first encounter with Bowser. Navigate through fire-spitting statues, moving platforms and take a fall down to the platform where Bowser awaits. Grab his tail, make a spin and toss him towards one of the bombs attached to the rim of the stage. One hit is enough, and Mario will now be able to get to the lowest basement of the castle. *Bowser in the Fire Sea - the second encounter with the evil Koopa King. This one is situated in a giant arena of fire, constituted of goombas, fire-breathing blocks, and sinking platforms. After a short pole maze, Mario can fight Bowser, who can now jump and turn the fighting stage on end. One swing into a bomb kills him, and Mario can then access the second floor of the castle. *Bowser in the Sky - the third and final encounter with Bowser. This one is a very tough course, involving more fire, goombas, wind, piranha plants, and even the odd Whomp. It takes three hits to kill him, including one on a very small platform, but he will finally die at the end! Power-ups *Wing Cap - this cap enables Mario to fly. *Vanish Cap *Metal Cap 64